Role of Cherokee Women in Their Culture
Native American women have been largely overlooked in history. We know little about their culture and how events in history affected them. What we do know about the history of these women is derived from books written by non-natives. These people did not always understand what they saw and thus their observations might be flawed. Gender also poses problems because Cherokee women and men lived fairly separate lives. Native men had virtually no access to the private and cultural lives of Cherokee women There was also a sexual division of labor based on an ancient myth, which created two work roles that rarely overlapped. Women in Cherokee society held a great deal of power, not only because they were women, but because they were not treated as inferiors to men. This equality of women posed a problem with the addition of European ways to early American society. European men were used to treating women as if they served no purposed but to look pretty and obey their husbands or fathers of brothers. Cherokee women were not ready to relinquish the power they felt was deserved. This was how things had been done for centuries. Cherokee women did not want to give that up. The history of Cherokee women is not about cultural transformatio
Social changes within the Cherokee society took place most swiftly where there was regular contact with whites. From 1776 on, there was a constant inflow of into the nation. Many married Cherokee women and settled down to farm in the fertile land. Once a white male took a Cherokee wife he was entitled to settle on whatever unoccupied land he liked.(Perdue,46) Many white traders came and opened stores. Deserters from the war came and found refuge in the federally protected territory. More and more men married Cherokee women. Their children were raised according to white standards more than Cherokee, but children identified themselves as Cherokees. While these children, according to Cherokee lineage, were part of their mothers' clan, they adopted the white patriarchal system of their fathers. The children seldom recognized clan responsibilities. For example, white men did not allow their wives' brothers to discipline their children, as was customary in the matrilineal system. The white man also did not recognize his wife's right to household property and children, no matter how hard the tribal council tried to sustain it(King,67). Cherokee children identified politically as Cherokees, but were accustomed to the white way of life. Their ability to relate to both nations allowed these children to move up in society and be able to relate well and keep communications between nations running.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Organization Cherokee, Women Government, Development Social, According Cherokee, Clan Cherokee, Conclusion Cherokee, European American, Native American, July August-when, Religion Cherokees, cherokee women, cherokee society, national council, cherokee children identified, women farmed, hunted women, children identified, cherokee children, corn women, elected positions, hunted women farmed, married cherokee women, cherokee women lived, cherokee life,
Approximate Word count = 1766
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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